3D printer upgrade: Microfactory, a Machine Shop In a Box

Aug.18, 2013

3D printers will soon get an upgrade. Microfactory, launched by Mebotics LLC in Somerville, MA, isn't just a 3D printer. It is "a Machine Shop in A Box".

Microfactory is a networked desktop machine to combine additive and subtractive machining in one package. It is capable of: printing functional parts in four colors or multiple materials and computerized etching and computer-controlled milling. It contains printing and milling heads so you are not anymore limited to 3D printer compatible material. You can now print, cut and etch plastics, wood and some light metals.

Features:

mess-free milling for quiet indoor use

print and mill in the same machine

fully networkable complete on-board computer

print in 2 materials or four colors at once

You can load and send your own design to the machine, or download designs from internet via an on-board computer and internet connection. "If you had a database of parts for your Humvee you could connect the machine to a Wi-Fi hotspot, download the part you need from a directory and make it on the fly out in the middle of nowhere," says Jeremy Fryer-Biggs, one of four co-founders of Mebotics. The code embedded in each design tells the machine when to use the milling head and when to switch to print heads. And you can remotely start the machine then monitor the process.

In addition Microfactory features also a vacuum port to which you can hook up your vacuum cleaner to suck all the sawdust and metal bits away.

Machine Specs:

Basic Version

prints functional parts in four colors or multiple materials in 2 colors

4-spool side rack for extrusion materials

300W spindle for computerized etching and milling of plastics and wood

runs industry-standard gcode on a customized open-source system (cross-compatible with machine-shop mills)

Ports: 4x USB 2.0, VGA, Ethernet Power

Mebotics team will pre-sell a limited number of units through the crowd funding site Kickstarter hoping to raise $1 million through the platform. The Kickstarter campaign is expected to be launched in one or two months. Fryer-Biggs thinks other inventors will definitely be interested. "It's the machine I always wanted," he says.